Cop in custody battle surrenders

Daniel Tepfer

Updated 12:01 am, Tuesday, March 26, 2013

John Devone appears in Superior Court, in Bridgeport, Conn., March 21st, 2013. Devone was arrested on March 12th and charged with custodial interference when his 3-year old son was seized by state police. The boy was returned to his mother, Brittany Finley, who lives in Georgia.

Photo: Ned Gerard

John Devone appears in Superior Court, in Bridgeport, Conn., March...

Brittany Finley displays a photo of her 2-year old son, John-Michael DeVone Jr., in Bridgeport, Conn. March 11th, 2013.

A Bridgeport police sergeant, who claimed State Police kidnapped his 2-year-old grandson, was charged Monday with trying to block them from returning the boy to his mother.

Johnny Devone, 63, a 29-year veteran of the Police Department, surrendered at the state police barracks in Bethany after being told there was a warrant for his arrest.

State police said Devone lied about the whereabouts of his grandson, even as he was on his cellphone to his wife, telling her to hide the boy.

"I would like to say justice has been served, but it isn't over yet," said the boy's mother, Brittany Finley, from her Georgia home. "I'm just glad I finally got my son back."

Devone, a supervisor in the detective bureau, was driven to the state police barracks Monday by Bridgeport Police Capt. James Viadero, the head of the detective bureau, who waited while Devone was booked on charges of interfering with an officer and second-degree custodial interference. Both charges are misdemeanors.

After Devone was released on a written promise to appear in court, Viadero drove Devone back to Bridgeport, where Devone met with Police Chief Joseph Gaudett Jr.

"The Bridgeport Police Department has cooperated with the state police, so today's arrest was not unexpected. Meanwhile, Sgt. Devone remains on administrative status as the Office of Internal Affairs conducts an investigation into any departmental violations," Gaudett said later.

"This is a continuation of a travesty that is happening to this family," said Devone's lawyer, Josephine Miller.

Devone, who is on desk duty, is scheduled to be arraigned in state Superior Court in Bridgeport on April 4. He earns about $71,000 a year.

Finley, who had two orders from a Georgia court for the return of her son, previously claimed that Bridgeport police were blocking her and a city sheriff from getting the boy.

On March 8, Bridgeport Superior Court Judge Howard Owens upheld the Georgia orders and ruled the Devones, who had initially taken the child for a 3-week visit, were illegally holding the child.

Finley said Bridgeport police subsequently refused to help her get her child back, so she filed a complaint with the Bridgeport State's Attorney's Office. That office contacted the state police.

Early on March 12, nearly a dozen state troopers, holding a search and seizure warrant, raided Devone's Bridgeport home, looking for the child. They said they didn't find the boy there, and Devone told them the child was out of state. However, a witness led the police to the nearby home of a Devone relative where they found the boy with Devone's wife.

State police said when they later examined Devone's cellphone records, they found he had made calls to his wife and she to him prior to and after the raid.

Miller, who is seeking to appeal Owens' order, contends Finley abandoned the child with the Devones and lied to the Georgia court. On behalf of Devone, she has filed a federal lawsuit against Finley claiming the woman defamed the Devone family.

On Wednesday, Devone's son, John Devone, the father of the boy, is to face a hearing on extradition to Georgia, where charges have been lodged against him regarding custody of his son.